Universities spent almost £10 million supporting “aggressive political campaigns” by lecturers last year, figures have shown, as mass strikes disrupted exams and teaching across the country. Data released by the government shows that UK universities spent £9.8m on paying lecturers and other employees to work for their unions during work hours. Universities, who draw a large portion of their income from student loans, accounted for 12% of the total public sector spend on union rep pay, and more than 70% of the spend in the education sector.

The reporting period for the data included series of strikes by the lecturers’ union UCU, which brought teaching and examinations to a standstill in universities across the country, cancelled lectures and saw staff forming picket lines around university libraries. Last month UCU opened a consultation of its members over the possibility of new strikes in the next academic year. James Duddridge, a former Conservative minister who was part of a group of MPs that called on the government to toughen anti-strike laws last year, told The Telegraph that unions should organise in employees' own time.

“No one should be paid by the state to be a full time union official,” he said.

“The state should not pay for people to organise others to not turn up to do work the state pay them to do.”

So-called ‘facility time’ pay is the practice of allowing staff to undertake trade union business during work hours.

This is the first year that public institutions have been required to report their spend on facility time.

University spending on union pay last year was higher than spending by the police and schools combined, but less than the £11.5 total spend of the NHS. The highest bills for full-time union workers were paid by Labour-run councils, which spent £1.1m on staff in Birmingham and £500,000 in Liverpool.

Thank god for it. Nothing could be more anti-middle class--certainly anti-American--than union busting that goes on today.

Labor has done more to advance the cause of humanity, than any other movement. In this union-busting environment of the past 30-years, we have seen 99% of wealth and income go into the pockets of 1% of the people. With numbers like that, you know the system is rigged.

How about busting up the Heritage Foundation, or similar organizations that promote the interests of billionaires?

Original Quill wrote:Thank god for it. Nothing could be more anti-middle class--certainly anti-American--than union busting that goes on today.

Labor has done more to advance the cause of humanity, than any other movement. In this union-busting environment of the past 30-years, we have seen 99% of wealth and income go into the pockets of 1% of the people. With numbers like that, you know the system is rigged.

How about busting up the Heritage Foundation, or similar organizations that promote the interests of billionaires?

Have they, like what?

Nothing worse than unions, who do little for the very people they suppsoedlly claim to want to help

All they care about is the ideology that they follow

Thank goodness, that in this country, Thatcher broke the back of such militants

Original Quill wrote:Thank god for it. Nothing could be more anti-middle class--certainly anti-American--than union busting that goes on today.

Labor has done more to advance the cause of humanity, than any other movement. In this union-busting environment of the past 30-years, we have seen 99% of wealth and income go into the pockets of 1% of the people. With numbers like that, you know the system is rigged.

How about busting up the Heritage Foundation, or similar organizations that promote the interests of billionaires?

Have they, like what?

Nothing worse than unions, who do little for the very people they suppsoedlly claim to want to help

All they care about is the ideology that they follow

Thank goodness, that in this country, Thatcher broke the back of such militants

Her finest hour

Don't be silly. You're just a mouthpiece for the plutocracy. If you really believed in democracy, you would see that unions comprise an interest group for the average person, who happens to be an average worker.

Nothing worse than unions, who do little for the very people they suppsoedlly claim to want to help

All they care about is the ideology that they follow

Thank goodness, that in this country, Thatcher broke the back of such militants

Her finest hour

Don't be silly. You're just a mouthpiece for the plutocracy. If you really believed in democracy, you would see that unions comprise an interest group for the average person, who happens to be an average worker.

The time of the billionaires has run its course.

Nothing silly about it. Thatcher was able to smash the very backbone of such socialists militants, which let them basically moot for decades. Unions are in no way democratic. That is the failing that you have in understanding Unions in the UK and as seen money has been abused to fuel disconent, not anything to advance the students themselves

Your last statement proves everything that is wrong with the left and their hate and distain for anyone successful and rich

I think the western Europe is turning more right wing and that is all down to the militancy and political correctness of the left

Don't be silly. You're just a mouthpiece for the plutocracy. If you really believed in democracy, you would see that unions comprise an interest group for the average person, who happens to be an average worker.

The time of the billionaires has run its course.

Nothing silly about it. Thatcher was able to smash the very backbone of such socialists militants, which let them basically moot for decades. Unions are in no way democratic. That is the failing that you have in understanding Unions in the UK and as seen money has been abused to fuel disconent, not anything to advance the students themselves

Your last statement proves everything that is wrong with the left and their hate and distain for anyone successful and rich

I think the western Europe is turning more right wing and that is all down to the militancy and political correctness of the left

From all of the bullshit Dodge has written above, we can see where he is coming from --

Dodge is anti-worker -- he wants unions removed, and all of the power returned to the bosses;

Dodge is anti-Democracy -- he supports money over and above workers; Dodge admires Thatcher because she brought in anti-Union laws..

Thatcher also virtually destroyed Britain's manufacturing base, while leaving Coal Mining communities to rot after she closed down their core industries..

Dodge still admires Thatcher's "Trickle Down" policies, despite that 'voodoo ecomics' being long disproven, time and again, as the rubbish it is..

Despite all of the hardships, the inequalities and the faux "austerity" measures that those conservative governments have given to Britain, Dodge is still arrogant enough, greedy enough and foolish enough to pass off workers and pensioners complaints as merely being "jealousy" from the left over what he perceives as the "successes" of the greedy corporations and their billionaire owners...

_________________It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.Our life is frittered away by details. Simplify, simplify.The mass of men lead lives of quite desperation.Henry David Thoreau

Nothing silly about it. Thatcher was able to smash the very backbone of such socialists militants, which let them basically moot for decades. Unions are in no way democratic. That is the failing that you have in understanding Unions in the UK and as seen money has been abused to fuel disconent, not anything to advance the students themselves

Your last statement proves everything that is wrong with the left and their hate and distain for anyone successful and rich

I think the western Europe is turning more right wing and that is all down to the militancy and political correctness of the left

From all of the bullshit Dodge has written above, we can see where he is coming from --

Dodge is anti-worker -- he wants unions removed, and all of the power returned to the bosses;

Dodge is anti-Democracy -- he supports money over and above workers; Dodge admires Thatcher because she brought in anti-Union laws..

Thatcher also virtually destroyed Britain's manufacturing base, while leaving Coal Mining communities to rot after she closed down their core industries..

Dodge still admires Thatcher's "Trickle Down" policies, despite that 'voodoo ecomics' being long disprover as the rubbish it is..

Despite all of the hardships, the inequalities and the faux "austerity" measures that those conservative governments have given to Britain, Dodge is still arrogant enough, greedy enough and foolish enough to pass off workers and pensioners complaints as merely being "jealousy" from the left over what he perceives as the "successes" of the greedy corporations and their billionaire owners...

Original Quill wrote:He's not worth it, wolf. He's empty. Look at that youtube...I've not cared, but he's used it over and over. He's numb...got nothing left.

Once again Dodge resorts to misdirection, falling back on fabricating his usual lying bullshit..

In this case, attempting to make it seem like this is an unfair attack on him personally -- completely ignoring the plain and obvious fact that his ongoing boorish and bullying behaviour is the very point that is being criticised here.

Didge has made the subject personal via his ongoing bullying, boorishness, bluster and bullshit.

_________________It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.Our life is frittered away by details. Simplify, simplify.The mass of men lead lives of quite desperation.Henry David Thoreau

Didge wrote:Universities spent almost £10 million supporting “aggressive political campaigns” by lecturers last year, figures have shown, as mass strikes disrupted exams and teaching across the country. Data released by the government shows that UK universities spent £9.8m on paying lecturers and other employees to work for their unions during work hours. Universities, who draw a large portion of their income from student loans, accounted for 12% of the total public sector spend on union rep pay, and more than 70% of the spend in the education sector.

The reporting period for the data included series of strikes by the lecturers’ union UCU, which brought teaching and examinations to a standstill in universities across the country, cancelled lectures and saw staff forming picket lines around university libraries. Last month UCU opened a consultation of its members over the possibility of new strikes in the next academic year. James Duddridge, a former Conservative minister who was part of a group of MPs that called on the government to toughen anti-strike laws last year, told The Telegraph that unions should organise in employees' own time.

“No one should be paid by the state to be a full time union official,” he said.

“The state should not pay for people to organise others to not turn up to do work the state pay them to do.”

So-called ‘facility time’ pay is the practice of allowing staff to undertake trade union business during work hours.

This is the first year that public institutions have been required to report their spend on facility time.

University spending on union pay last year was higher than spending by the police and schools combined, but less than the £11.5 total spend of the NHS. The highest bills for full-time union workers were paid by Labour-run councils, which spent £1.1m on staff in Birmingham and £500,000 in Liverpool.

Didge is anti-average person, and pro-rich guy. He idolizes the wealthy, even though s/he had to step all over people to get there. It's anti-humanism... everything that is wrong with human civilization.

Didge wrote:Universities spent almost £10 million supporting “aggressive political campaigns” by lecturers last year, figures have shown, as mass strikes disrupted exams and teaching across the country. Data released by the government shows that UK universities spent £9.8m on paying lecturers and other employees to work for their unions during work hours. Universities, who draw a large portion of their income from student loans, accounted for 12% of the total public sector spend on union rep pay, and more than 70% of the spend in the education sector.

The reporting period for the data included series of strikes by the lecturers’ union UCU, which brought teaching and examinations to a standstill in universities across the country, cancelled lectures and saw staff forming picket lines around university libraries. Last month UCU opened a consultation of its members over the possibility of new strikes in the next academic year. James Duddridge, a former Conservative minister who was part of a group of MPs that called on the government to toughen anti-strike laws last year, told The Telegraph that unions should organise in employees' own time.

“No one should be paid by the state to be a full time union official,” he said.

“The state should not pay for people to organise others to not turn up to do work the state pay them to do.”

So-called ‘facility time’ pay is the practice of allowing staff to undertake trade union business during work hours.

This is the first year that public institutions have been required to report their spend on facility time.

University spending on union pay last year was higher than spending by the police and schools combined, but less than the £11.5 total spend of the NHS. The highest bills for full-time union workers were paid by Labour-run councils, which spent £1.1m on staff in Birmingham and £500,000 in Liverpool.